Does a turtle have a tail and why is it needed? (a photo)

Some people are interested in the question of whether the turtle has a tail. The answer is in the affirmative. Almost all known species of turtles have tails. The only question is how important it is to them.

A bit of origin history

Many scientists claim that these reptiles are descended from cotilosaurs, as evidenced by their fossil skeletons.

But if we compare the turtle tail and its ancestor, then there are big differences. In the most ancient reptiles, it was large and strong, served for defense and attack, and helped during movement.

However, over millions of years, the appearance of these animals has changed a lot. Modern terrestrial descendants of cotylosaurs have very small tails. They absolutely do not help with movement, only rare species have spikes on their tips, with which they can defend themselves.

The owners of the longest tails are aquatic turtles (cayman turtle, sea turtles and others), since their shell does not cover the body as well as that of land turtles.

It turns out that the turtle’s tail is a meaningless and unnecessary atavism. However, not everything is as simple as it seems.

What is the function of the tail

Firstly, the elongated tail of turtles, some marine species, gives agility, maneuverability and additional speed to the animal to protect itself from attack. Thus, nature, as it were, compensates for the lack of protection with the ability to move more dexterously.

Secondly, it is easy to guess that the turtle tail is the part of the body where the cloaca is located, through which waste products are excreted from the body, and the process of reproduction also takes place. The turtle needs a tail to protect this vulnerable body part.

Important! The owners of these pets should take care of this organ in animals themselves and not allow children to injure it during games.

Determination of the sex of a pet: why is it necessary

So here’s another thing why a turtle needs a tail: so that the owners of these pets can distinguish females from males.

In the female, it is short, located almost on the edge of the carapace – the dorsal part of the shell. On it you can see a cloaca in the shape of an asterisk. And in males it is longer, slightly receding from the carapace.